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Television Q&A

Nazi zombies got rare underwater turn in ‘Shock Wave’

 

Akron Beacon Journal

Q. I don’t remember the title of a movie about a mad scientist making a German super-soldier who can breathe underwater. Somehow people come to his island and the soldiers get loose and start to kill the people. In the end the soldiers take off their goggles and the sun kills them.

That is Shock Waves, a ’70s movie starring Brooke Adams and Peter Cushing. As the All Things Zombie website notes, it is not only representative of the zombie horror subgenre, but of the sub-subgenre of Nazi zombie movies — and it is one of the few films involving underwater Nazi zombies. It has been released on DVD. Q. Why have they stopped releasing the NYPD Blue season box sets? It seemed they were coming out once a year some time ago and then they stopped at Season 4.

To the frustration of their fans, some shows begin complete-season releases, then stop before the show is done; the reason is usually disappointing sales. And the release pattern for the great police show NYPD Blue reflects such difficulties.

The first season of the series, which first aired from 1993 to 2005, was released on DVD in 2003, with the second season following later that same year. Sales were apparently disappointing, since it was 2006 before the third season was released, and the packaging was much less elaborate. The same applied to the fourth season, also released in 2006. But sales must have been poor again, since that was it for DVD releases.

That being said, seasons five through 12 have at least been made available as streaming video via Amazon.com’s Amazon Prime system; you can buy individual episodes or complete seasons.

Q. I’d like to know if the man who plays on Law & Order, I think his last name is Bowzer, is the same man who sang with the group Sha Na Na.

You are probably confusing Richard Belzer and Jon “Bowzer” Bauman. Bauman was a member of Sha Na Na for about 15 years and for many its most memorable member. He now performs with Bowzer and the Stingrays; you can catch up on his other recent activities at his website, www.bowzerparty.com.

On Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Belzer plays Detective John Munch, a character who was originally on the series Homicide: Life on the Street. After the Baltimore-set Homicide was canceled, Munch moved to New York and the SVU job.

By the way, Belzer claims the world record for playing the same character in the most different series. Munch has been a regular or guest on at least 11, including the two mentioned and Law & Order, Law and Order: Trial By Jury, The X-Files, The Beat, M.O.N.Y., Sesame Street, The Wire, Arrested Development and 30 Rock.

Q. What happened to the show Lights Out that was on a couple of years ago?

The boxing series on FX had its admirers, me among them. But its ratings were not up to the network’s standards and it was dropped after a single season.

One FX executive told the A.V. Club website that many viewers never gave the show a chance: “It seems vaguely familiar if you’ve seen Rocky or The Fighter. But then you get into it and you find out it’s got richness and texture and it’s quite different.”

Q. A few years ago I saw the tail end of a war movie where Gregory Peck was a priest during the day and a freedom fighter at night, working with the underground. The Nazi commander was Maximilian Schell. At the end, while he is in jail, he is visited by Peck. I thought the title was Red and Black or Black and Red, but I haven’t been able to find anything under Peck or Schell.

You are thinking of a TV movie called The Scarlet and the Black, which first aired in 1983. It starred Gregory Peck, but his foe was played by Christopher Plummer, currently nominated for the Oscar for best supporting actor for his sublime performance in Beginners. The Scarlet and the Black is available on DVD.

Send questions to TV Mailbag, Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com. Individual replies cannot be guaranteed.
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